An Edmond man says he plans to climb the world's highest mountain and raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The climb is in honor of Hayden Siler, 7, who was born with the disease. Chris Palmer, 57, says he considers Hayden his granddaughter.

"She is one of the sharpest, wittiest, most energetic kids I have ever known, and if I didn't know her, there would be no clue that she has CF," Palmer says.

He first started planning his trip earlier this year. He says he wanted to capture the perfect picture of Mount Everest at night.

"I'd never really seen any really good high-quality photos of Mt. Everest with the Milky Way over it," says Palmer.

The trip then turned into something else when he realized the similarities between how he would feel on Everest and what Hayden goes through every day. CF affects mucus linings in bodies, so those with severe cases of CF have trouble breathing.

"The trek in takes nine days predominantly because at two or three spots along the way, you have to stop for two nights to get acclimated to the altitude," says Palmer.

Alyssa Siler, Hayden's mom, said Palmer has always been extremely supportive of Hayden and the CF Foundation, so she wasn't surprised to hear that Palmer was planning to raise $20,000.

"The key is that CF is sort of an orphan disease in that it gets no public funding," says Palmer. "It's all voluntary donations."

Currently, Siler says Hayden is in great health. Her doctors are aggressive with treatments and they are hopeful that researchers are close to a miracle cure.

"Right now, the average life expectancy is 37, but that's going up and up every year," Siler says.

Palmer is planning on taking photographs throughout his three-week trip.

He leaves at the end of October and will be making prints available for certain donors.

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